The invention relates to systems and methods for protecting computer systems from malware, and in particular to anti-malware systems employing hardware virtualization technology.
Malicious software, also known as malware, affects a great number of computer systems worldwide. In its many forms such as computer viruses, worms, and rootkits, malware presents a serious risk to millions of computer users, making them vulnerable to loss of data and sensitive information, identity theft, and loss of productivity, among others.
Hardware virtualization technology allows the creation of simulated computer environments commonly known as virtual machines, which behave in many ways as physical computer systems. In typical applications such as server consolidation and infrastructure-as-a-service (IAAS), several virtual machines may run simultaneously on the same physical machine, sharing the hardware resources among them, thus reducing investment and operating costs. Each virtual machine may run its own operating system and/or software applications, separately from other virtual machines. Due to the steady proliferation of malware, each virtual machine operating in such an environment potentially requires malware protection.
Enterprise networks are increasingly using hardware virtualization technology, giving individual users access to computing resources from any location on the network, while protecting corporate data and facilitating network administration. In an exemplary application, instead of operating a computer system having a full-fledged operating system and applications, each user may operate a thin client endpoint acting as a terminal to a virtual machine running remotely on a central corporate location.
There is considerable interest in developing anti-malware solutions for hardware virtualization platforms, solutions which are robust, scalable, and adapted to any network configuration.